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State Treasurer Ted Wheeler

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HAYES

Oregonians can now see two very different accounts of what happened in the Oregon Department of Energy investigation, in which four employees were accused of steering state business to Cylvia Hayes, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s
companion. The first report was ordered by former Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
In it, a retired judge, Francisco Yraguen, said all four employees
should be fired. The second was ordered up by the Kitzhaber
administration. Written by Portland lawyers Ed Harnden and Paula Barran,
that report cleared the employees and said they should be returned to
work without discipline. State officials made the reports public
Tuesday. Both reports show Energy Department employees were alarmed at
what appeared to be favoritism shown to Hayes, triggering the
investigation last August. The reports do share one feature: They clear
Hayes. And laud her. The Harnden and Barran report quotes an unnamed
source calling Hayes a “rock star.” To see the reports and our continuing coverage, go to wweek.com.

U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton and 34 Oregon district attorneys issued a stern letter to medical-marijuana dispensaries
last week, warning that prosecutors take a dim view of the pot shops.
“The sale of marijuana for any purpose—including as medicine—violates
both federal and Oregon law and will not be tolerated,” the letter says. The warning letter, first reported on wweek.com, follows WW’s recent story on medical-marijuana dispensaries (see “Budding Conflicts” WW,
June 1, 2011). Similar letters have gone out from U.S. attorneys in
Washington, Arizona, Vermont, Colorado, Montana and Rhode Island. One
name notably absent from the Oregon letter: Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk. “I don’t like to threaten things that we realistically are not geared up to do,” Schrunk says.

State Treasurer Ted Wheeler is cleaning up his campaign account, which until this week showed a negative balance of $217,000—not a confidence-inspiring figure
for the man who is effectively the state’s banker. Most of the
deficit—$200,000—consisted of loans from himself. Wheeler and his wife,
Katrina, forgave $120,000 this week. Wheeler’s campaign still owes him
$80,000, his campaign manager $12,000 and his pollster $5,000. Wheeler,
who comes from a wealthy Portland timber family, is up for re-election
next year.

Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) tried to curtail price manipulation in the oil markets with a proposed $150-billion tax on oil speculation.
His proposal failed. Now, DeFazio is trying again with a tweaked bill
that would add a .01 percent tax to every oil futures transaction. The
speculation DeFazio is trying to discourage with the tax already adds 80 cents to the price of a gallon of gas,
according to research by Goldman Sachs and cited by DeFazio’s office.
On May 31, DeFazio sent a letter to Congressional colleagues askingfor
their support. So far, the bill has picked up only four co-sponsors.
Pro-Wall Street Democrats and Exxon-friendly Republicans in Congress may
ensure that DeFazio’s bill goes nowhere—even though cutting the
“speculators’ premium” in gas prices would help consumers and
businesses.

"In the low usage areas, we found that our vehicles sit idle four times longer, ultimately affecting overall vehicle availability for the Portland membership base, as well as parking for the Portland community."

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